In a principal aspect, the present invention relates to cobalt, nickel, chromium stainless martensitic steel alloys having ultrahigh strength and corrosion resistance characterized by nanoscale sized carbide precipitates, in particular, M2C precipitates.
Main structural components in aerospace and other high-performance structures are almost exclusively made of ultrahigh-strength steels because the weight, size and, in some cases, cost penalties associated with use of other materials is prohibitive. However, ultrahigh-strength steels with a tensile strength in the range of at least 240 ksi to 300 ksi have poor general corrosion resistance and are susceptible to hydrogen and environmental embrittlement.
Thus, to provide general corrosion resistance in aerospace and other structural steel components, cadmium plating of the components is typically employed, and when wear resistance is needed, hard chromium plating is predominantly used. These coatings have disadvantages from a cost, manufacturing, environmental and reliability standpoint. Consequently, a goal in the design or discovery of ultrahigh-strength steel alloys is elimination of the need for cadmium and chromium coatings without a mechanical deficit or diminishment of strength. One performance objective for alloys of the subject invention is replacement of non-stainless structural steels with stainless or corrosion resistant steels that have tensile strengths greater than about 240 ksi, that do not require cadmium coating and which demonstrate wear resistance without chromium plating or other protective and wear resistant coatings.
One of the most widely used ultrahigh-strength steels in use for aerospace structural applications is 300M steel. This alloy is essentially 4340 steel modified to provide a slightly higher Stage I tempering temperature, thereby allowing the bakeout of embrittling hydrogen introduced during processing. Aerospace Material Specification AMS 6257A [SAE International, Warrendale, Pa., 2001], which is incorporated herewith, covers a majority of the use of 300M steel in aerospace applications. Within this specification minimum tensile properties are 280 ksi ultimate tensile strength (UTS), 230 ksi yield strength (YS), 8% elongation and a reduction of area of 30%. The average plane strain mode I fracture toughness is 52 ksi [Philip, T. V. and T. J. McCaffrey, Ultrahigh-Strength Steels, Properties and Selection: Irons, Steels, and High-Performance Alloys, Materials Park, Ohio, ASM International, 1: 430-448, 1990], which is incorporated herewith. Stress corrosion cracking resistance in a 3.5% by weight aqueous sodium chloride solution is reported as 10 ksi.
The high tensile strength of 300M steel allows the design of lightweight structural components in aerospace systems such as landing gear. However, the lack of general corrosion resistance requires cadmium coating, and the low stress corrosion cracking resistance results in significant field failures due to environmental embrittlement.
Precipitation hardening stainless steels, primarily 15-5PH, [AMS 5659K, SAE International, Warrendale, Pa., 1998], which is incorporated herewith, may also be used in structural aerospace components, but typically only in lightly loaded applications where the weight penalties due to its low strength are not large. Corrosion resistance is sufficient for such an alloy so that cadmium plating can be eliminated; however minimum tensile properties of 15-5PH in the maximum strength H900 condition are only 190 ksi UTS and 170 ksi YS. This limits the application to components that are not strength limited.
Another precipitation strengthening stainless steel, Carpenter Custom 465™ steel [Alloy Digest, SS-716, Materials Park, Ohio, ASM International, 1998], which is incorporated herewith, uses intermetallic precipitation and reaches a maximum UTS of slightly below 270 ksi. At that strength level Custom 465™ steel has a low Charpy V-notch impact energy of about 5 ft-lb [Kimmel, W. M., N. S. Kuhn, et al., Cryogenic Model Materials, 39th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting & Exhibit, Reno, Nev., 2001], which is incorporated herewith. For most structural applications Custom 465™ steel must be used in a condition that limits its UTS to well below 270 ksi in order to maintain adequate Charpy V-notch impact resistance.
A number of secondary hardening stainless steels have been developed that reach ultimate strength levels of up to 270 ksi. These are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. Re. 26,225, 3,756,808, 3,873,378, and 5,358,577. These stainless steels use higher chromium levels to maintain corrosion resistance and therefore compromise strength. A primary feature of these alloys is the large amount of austenite, both retained and formed during secondary hardening. The austenite modifies the flow behavior of the alloys and, while they may achieve an UTS as high as 270 ksi, their yield strength is no more than 200 ksi. This large gap between yield and ultimate limits the applications for which these steels can be used. Thus there has remained the need for ultrahigh strength, noncorrosive steel alloys that have a yield strength of at least about 230 ksi and an ultimate tensile strength of at least about 280 ksi.